Halo 3: ODST Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: Thoughts so far
  • Subject: Thoughts so far
Subject: Thoughts so far
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I'll start by saying I'm very excited to play ODST, and based on all the videos i'm seeing right now it looks like it will be a fantastic game. Very fun, very intense, with a great story. All of the hands on have seemed positive and I can't wait to play this game. That said I have a few issues with what I'm seeing.

First I'll say this is supposition based on 2nd hand impressions only, so I'll admit my knowledge here is limited. I do feel like after watching some players demo the game though that it does not look like what I wanted as a player.

I think the moment that started me thinking the most about this was while demoing the game the player went toe to toe with a Brute (and a compliment of grunts). Even on normal difficulty it seems at odds with the lore for a single ODST to be able to take a brute in open combat. Now had the demoing player had to use a little more stealth, maybe get the first shot off say, or generally do something more involved than run in and strafe-shoot then it would be fine, but he didn't. He was able to take down a brute with little problem (not taking any health loss even), and all while trading shots with him.

I understand not wanting to make the game extremely hard, but it just seems like this ODST isn't much more than MC in Halo 1. Which I understand a lot of players want, and I get the feeling from these game displays that this was what the design team was shooting for, but it really feels like a lost chance to do something really game changing. I mean if an ODST can go toe to toe with what is supposedly the hardest to kill member of the Covenant, what is the point of the Spartans? Why are they special?

I mean in the game you have "stamina" I heard it called, which for all intents and purposes is a shield. I understand gameplay comes first, but this just baffles me. It seems like you had a chance to blend the best elements from games like rainbow six and modern warfare with the best of halo and you instead remade something that looks and feels all halo.

I think what I wanted from this game was what one of the first videos showed. The Rookie hidden in shadows, waiting for a patrol to go by before moving on. And maybe these elements exist in the game and they just don't demo well since people don't get excited about waiting, but if a player can solo a brute and a squad of grunts without a scratch I find it hard to think of a situation where he would need to be anything but guns-a-blazing.

I wanted each time I saw a group of enemies I had that "fight or flight" moment where I weighed my options. And this game looks all fight. I wanted those moments of indecission where I need to move on, but a patrol is blocking me. I have to sneak and use the terrain to my advantage. My greatest weapon was my mind, and I don't see that from what was shown.

What's sad is even if this sort of game was going to be too slow for players you have flashbacks to mix in some more intense firefights into the game. You had a system built in to relieve the tension and deliver those intense firefights, and I don't see it. There is all fight, all the time.

It really looks like the ODST will be a bullet sponge and I think this ruins what could have been a very very tense atmosphere where you are genuinely worried about each encounter since you are the underdog and are outgunned. The lone ODST in any of the demos never looked outgunned, even verse a large group of enemies. This seems very wrong, and like a wasted chance.

This game doesn't look to require much thought, and the videos had me hoping for a smarter halo game. A slower paced game I guess. I mean I love the halo games, they are fantastically tuned shooters and everything in them works great. But I've played those game. I wanted Bungie to push the envelope here and try something truly unique and I feel like i'm going to get the same Halo again. It feels like you had the chance to cut ties and show some diversity. Try something risky and really mix up the gameplay, and it looks like you didn't take near as many risks as I hoped you would.

I understand this sort of stuff is at times silly. I have such limited knowledge of the game, and I don't know your design goals. But everything I've seen so far from the demos and videos coming from E3, it seems like I'll get more Halo, and not something really unique and exciting.

I'm still looking forward to this game and I'm positive I'll enjoy it, but I'm not excited about it anymore. And that's a shame because the ODST's are my favorite part of the whole Halo universe.

[Edited on 06.04.2009 8:41 AM PDT]

  • 06.04.2009 8:38 AM PDT
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Ahh My EYES!! Nice blog.

  • 06.04.2009 8:56 AM PDT
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Aye, I did get a lot of words in there, but I figured if there was any place to discuss where I wanted to game to go design wise, in front of the designers was the place!

The voice of the small man has little sway, but I at least hope it's heard.

  • 06.04.2009 9:03 AM PDT
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Totally agrre with you Innuendo i too thought the game was gonna be stealthy and all the things you've talked about, i will still get this game but im not that excited for it :P

  • 06.04.2009 9:09 AM PDT
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J D O S H

I still think this is going to be great, I mean this could actually have quite a lot of stealth in the game which just hasn't been shown in the demo like you said. You could of never pointed this out and people would still be over excited for the right reasons of being everything they expected it to be.

  • 06.04.2009 9:25 AM PDT
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I agree J Dosh, I think it will be a great game.

I just had my hopes up for something new and different, something to really push what bungie has done so far, and it doesn't look like that. This looks like Halo 1 again.

  • 06.04.2009 10:09 AM PDT

Flaming in threads is more of an annoyance, but I can't stand in-game flaming. If I wanted to scrape my ear off with a knife, I would've done it already.
-Me

Even though I usually never post in these forums, I have to say a few things. I completely agree with you on pretty much everything you said, but there a few holes in your, uh, arguement. Since Bungie set up the demo just for E3, (I'm assuming) they could have made themselves stronger in the game, and it could be different in the full game, like you couldn't take as many hits as in the demo. And plus, that was only on normal, if you want it to be more realistic, just play on legendary. :) Also, I'm sure there are ways of being stealthy in this game, and avoiding patrols, since, why else would they give us silenced guns, and nightvision? Plus, Bungie has said that there are a lot of stealthy elements in the game, so I'm sure there are parts in the game where you can go all Splinter Cell on their asses.

  • 06.05.2009 2:27 PM PDT
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Hey there

I must say, i have the same feelings as you about the game. I expected a new 'twist' on Halo: maintaining the same background, weapons, ennemies etc.... buty having to deal with them in an entirely different manner since you are now only human (well ODST).

So far it seems almost exactly like playing a spartan, except you can't use equipment, but have a night vision. Not exactly a big change. At the same time, the E3 demo apparently has " god mode " on, and the player is invulnerable for the purpose of the walkthrough, which hopefully explains why it's SO easy for a regular human to do what only spartans should. Stuff like riping turrets.... will be horde mode only, so that doesn't really count.

I was a bit dissapointed that playing as an ODST isn't such a huge change, but at the same time i'm thinking of Halo 3: ODST more as what Halo 2 should have been ( defending earth, fighting covenant to take back Mombasa like in the E3 2003 video), and it has got me much more excited about the game again.

Guess halo: ghost recon, just wasn't meant to happen =P

  • 06.05.2009 4:46 PM PDT

Ding Ding!

I don't think it's as much of a missed opportunity as something that Bungie simply didn't want to do. They said from the start that ODST wasn't going to be "Splinter Cell: Halo" or "Rainbow Six: Halo". While they indicated that there would be some changes, they were always straightforward that the core Halo gameplay would remain intact in ODST. Having to stay in the shadows and getting killed in a couple of shots would be fun for some gamers, but it would also be a complete departure from the gameplay that built the series, and I'm sure a number of people out there don't want to see that.

  • 06.05.2009 4:58 PM PDT
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He was immortal in the demo.

  • 06.05.2009 5:36 PM PDT
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Hun, I just don't give a damn.

I agree with both sides of this argument, you both have good points, what I was expecting was something in between stealth and overall strength. Where as, you had the option to avoid things, or just go balls to the wall and -blam!- everything in your path. The demo makes it look like it's so step by step, which is just like the halo games, which is exactly what I did not want! I was looking for something like Far Cry 2, where if you had to, you could kill just using brute force, or you could sneak up and attack silently, or on top of that, you could just sneak past them. I think what I'm really bummed about though is the fact that no vehicles were shown in the city itself. I'm hoping for something like a moterbike. What I think Bungie should do, is put a nice vehicle Depo outside of the ONI base, with all of your favorites, mongooses, warthogs, you name it. Heck, maybe even a hornet or two! But I think there should be a stealth ground vehicle, like a pitch black, completely silent motercycle. That is what I want.

  • 06.05.2009 6:26 PM PDT
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I shoot u ALL DIE!!!!!!11

I agree with LT RADCZEK. This isn't the final product, it's just the demo. And if you want the brutes to be harder just turn the diffuculty up.

  • 06.05.2009 6:32 PM PDT
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Xorphz has it just right. I wanted to have those "fight or flight" moments in this game, it doesn't look like I have any option but "kill the guys in your way." I dunno, like I said int eh first post I'm looking through a tiny window at a whole world, so I just don't know. But everything I see from the window is the same stuff I've been seeing since Halo: CE. I was ready for something new.

  • 06.06.2009 10:07 AM PDT